Two people have died and 490 were injured amid strong winds and rainfall brought by Typhoon Krathon, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday as of 9pm.
The typhoon finally made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at 12:40pm yesterday after lingering off the nation’s southwest coast.
A video uploaded by a Kaohsiung resident to Facebook showed that an apartment’s rain shade flew away, because of strong winds.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Another video showed the wind causing a cart selling betel nut to slide down the road.
Other videos showed severe flooding in the city’s Sanming (三民) and Kushan (鼓山) districts.
Glass doors were also shattered by the wind, with one video showing the front of a Hi-Life convenience store in the city’s Chienjin District (前金) completely broken. Elsewhere, employees of Grand Hilai Kaohsiung hotel were mobilized to physically support the glass doors so that they would not break.
Photo: CNA
Rain in northern Taiwan began to intensify yesterday as the typhoon moved north after the landfall. Flooding and mudflow were reported in multiple places in Keelung.
By 5:30pm yesterday, two people had died, 219 had sustained injuries and one person was reported missing, the center said.
Water supply was unavailable at 404,673 households, while 164,805 households were left without electricity, it said.
Photo courtesy of a reader
Eighty-three mobile phone base stations also needed to be repaired, the center said.
Nearly 2,000 people remained in shelters, it said.
Public transport also continued to be disrupted by the typhoon. A total of 469 domestic and international flights were canceled yesterday, while railway services at certain sections were canceled, the center said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
As of 6pm yesterday, Krathon’s center was 30km northeast of Kaohsiung, moving north at 6kph, data from the Central Weather Administration (CWA) showed. The storm’s radius had shrunk from 220km to 180km. The maximum wind speed near the center had also dropped to 108km.
Krathon has been downgraded to a tropical depression, as its structure had been damaged by the typography after landing in Kaohsiung, the CWA said.
Although Krathon is expected to weaken further as it heads north, residents living in the south of Taoyuan, as well as Nantou, Yilan, Hualien, Taitung and Penghu counties should still be on alert for disasters that it could cause, the CWA said.
Photo: CNA
As of 5:50pm, the highest accumulated rainfall in the past three days was recorded in Taitung County’s Jinfong Township (金峰), reaching 1,284mm.
It was followed by Tahanshan (大漢山) and Naner (南鵝) in Taitung County, with accumulated rainfall topping 1,225mm and 1,204mm. However, 576mm of rain poured into New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳) yesterday alone as of 5pm, making it the highest recorded rainfall.
Photo courtesy of the Highway Bureau
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS